After a prolonged battle with ailment
said to be stroke-related, veteran actor, Enebeli Elebuwa, on Wednesday
finally left the stage that the world is. The sun set on his life in an
Indian hospital.
Following his death, several artistes
have taken to the social networking site, Twitter, to pay homage to him.
Actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, who said she saw Elebuwa as a father,
tweeted, “He looked so much like my father. He joked many times that he
was. I lost one 21 years ago now you too are gone! Adieu Enebeli
Elebuwa!”
Tweeting with doubt or not willing to
believe the obvious, another actress, Omoni Oboli, wrote on her profile,
“If it is true that my worthy colleague Elebuwa, has passed on, then
it’s a sad day in Nollywood! May his soul rest in peace.”
On her part, Emem Isong, a movie
producer, writes, “Rest in peace Elebuwa. Another big loss for
Nollywood. May God grant his family the fortitude to bear the loss.”
Some singers have also left condolence
messages on their profiles, with Sidney Esiri otherwise called Dr. Sid
writing, “My condolences to the family of Enebeli Elebuwa. The Lord is
your strength. He was a great man and a Nigerian icon.”
Even among Nigerian movie enthusiasts,
the messages have been pouring in on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and
popular websites. One of the comments read, “All my lovely elder actors
are dying, but Elebuwa, may your gentle soul RIP. Is very painful what
is happening in AGN. Death everywhere; we need prayer because the death
is too much.”
Like Isong and many others rightly
pointed out, Elebuwa’s death is one too many for Nollywood and indeed
the Nigerian entertainment industry. In the past two years, several
practitioners have been forced to take untimely bows due to ailments,
out of which stroke is the latest entrant.
A few months ago, popular stage actor,
Gogo Ombo, died from partial stroke that resulted from a long battle
with diabetes. Ombo was closely followed by Yoruba actor, Ahmed Oduola
(Dento).
What makes Elebuwa’s death painful to
some people is the effort that was put into trying to make him live
longer. After battling the illness for some time, he was reportedly
taken to the Perfect Christian Ministry in Surulere, Lagos in an
apparent search for healing.
He was taken to Pastor Fireman’s church
afterwards, where there were claims that the actor had been healed. The
claims were followed by a video posted online with Fireman practically
dragging Elebuwa around for the world to witness.
At a point, he was taken to his home
town, Utagba Uno, in Delta State before the state government came into
the picture, sent him to an Abuja-based hospital before he was taken to
India where he finally died.
The deceased had in October raised hopes
that he was getting better when he phoned from India to say, “I’m
getting better.” But this was not to be. A source close to him said he
suffered sclerosis as opposed to the popular view that it was stroke.
But whether it was sclerosis or stroke, the fact remains that Elebuwa
would perhaps have survived if medical care had been made available to
him from the beginning.
Most Nigerian artistes, who had died
from prolonged illness, suffered such cruel fate due to lack of funds.
Although nobody has considered the possibility, artistes could actually
look inwards and see how to forestall such misfortune.
Elebuwa was by all means a prolific actor, whose vacuum cannot be filled. He began acting in 1974 with the movie, Dinner with the Devil,
produced by Sanya Dosumu, and shot in celluloid. He later acted the
role of Andrew in a short television campaign against brain drain in the
late 80s with his popular slogan, “Andrew, are you checking out?”,
which earned him the name ‘Andrew’.
MAUREEN AZUH writes that the
death of veteran actor, Enebeli Elebuwa, on Wednesday has heightened
the death scare in the entertainment industry
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